Clean Powers Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example

Final Project Final Project Part What are the ethical issues or concerns in this Energy Cooperative Case study? How can this be resolved applying KANT"s Categorical Imperative? How can this be resolved applying MILLs Theory of Utilitarianism? How can this be resolved applying the theory of RIGHTs based on ethical decision making? How can this be resolved applying the theory of JUSTICE based ethical decision making? How would these issues be resolved at each stage of KOHLBERGs Levels of Moral Development?(label the stages)  The ethical issue that is faced by the Energy Cooperative in the case is that of misrepresentation of the committee board and management to its clients According to KANT’s Categorical Imperative rationality has to be applied to resolve the ethical issue of misrepresentation by Energy Cooperative. If the board agrees to carry on with the message that was highlighted by one of the board members then it would be accepted by the Maxim and acceptable o portray one of the board directs as the director of the Energy Cooperative committee and Board when addressing the clients. Mills theory of Utilitarianism is based on the overall utility of a decision or the action or the consequential end result which should benefit the masses. If the decision to promote one of the board members as the direct for the Energy cooperative is beneficial for the masses by providing them with a leading figure or a figurehead for the corporation. Then the company can proceed with the proposal. Ethical relativism in rights theory indicates that there are no universal rights or wrings, however what is accepted as the norm for right and wrong is established to be ethical. As a result as the clients and the external partners of the energy cooperative have the right to now the management at the committee, it is also their right to know that there is no single director at the company. Instead a group of directors precede over the committee for operations and decision-making. The theory of justice depicts that ethical decision are those which are fair to all parties and have integrity. In order to be fair to the clients as well being fair to the other directors on the board of the Energy Cooperative Company the proposal of the director to address to the clients while addressing himself as ‘the director of the company’ should be rejected as it is unfair and lacks integrity. Instead it should be depicted that he is one of the directors on board the Energy Cooperative’   The three levels pertain to pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional levels. At the pre-conventional level in the first stage pertaining to obedience and punishment orientation, the company could decide against the proposal as there is a threat of a lawsuit from the external partners, clients and the other board directors for misrepresentation. At the second stage which is interest driven, the company could decide in favor if the proposal as it would provide them with a spokesperson form the company that can be perceived as the figurehead and leader in the cooperative for others. At the conventional level in the third stage pertaining to interpersonal accord and conformity the cooperative can deicide in favor of the proposal as it would provide enable them to fulfill a social role of being a committee with a distinct leader leading the cooperative. At the fourth stage pertaining to authority and social order obedience the cooperative can decide against the proposal as contains misrepresentation that would be against the social conventions of right and wrong. At the pre-conventional level in the fifth stage pertaining to social contract, the company could decide in favor of as well as against the proposal as the decision would be based on the fact that different people and have different opinions on what is right and wrong and the cooperative could sidle with the majority decision that can be attained form its board of directors and management. In the last stage which pertains to being driven by universal ethical principles, the company could decide against the proposal as it does not address the rights and ethical perspectives of all the parties involved including the management, the other board of directors, the clients and the external partners and members of the Energy Cooperative. Final Project Part 2: Question A: What is Clean Powers corporate social responsibility for each ethical issue you have identified in this case? Write a minimum of 2 pages in APA format addressing these issues. Legal Economic Ethical Philanthropic Answer: The Clean Power Company is an environmentally green company that manufactures products to help the consumers reduce their carbon footprint on the planet and regulate their usage of the earth’s natural resources. The main product that is manufactured and marketed by the company is an energy regulating device that regulates and controls the use of energy like electricity in the homes of the consumers. Aside from the company itself has declared itself to me a self sustaining company that seeks to operate keeping environment sustainability and its corporate social responsibility towards is communities and regions of operations in mind. Pertaining to this the compact has even undertaken plans to aid the Dominican Republic region of operations for development through investment in social programs and regional infrastructure. However the company is faced with the ethical issue of being environment conscious and pro-green operations while having to dump the sewer waste in the Chavon River. This poses as a major issue for the company. Legally there exist no laws that the company would be breaking if it decides to continue on the suggestion provided by Teltec and dump its sewer waste in the Chavon River. However the increasing interest in environment protection including protecting Earth’s water resources can lead to a law suit in the future by the Dominican Republic or the community living near the river against the company for dumping its waste in the Chavon River. Moreover consumer action groups can take action against the company for not upholding its social corporate responsibility by polluting its regions of operation in Dominican with the dumping of sewer waste in the Chavon River. In Economic terms the company would be better off dumping its waste in the river as the company would not have to deal with the extensive costs of setting up a treatment plant, and treating the waste before it gets dumped into the river. In the short term this is going to be economically feasible and profitable for the company. However with the passage of time the amount of pollution being driven into the river is going to increase while increasing the pollution levels and concentration as well. At this position it would not be economically suitable or viable for the company to continue dumping untreated sewage into the river as counter lawsuits and legal action can raise fines for the company that would have to be met and alternatives to dumping would have to be developed at additional costs. From the ethical perspective the issue that the Clean Power Company would be facing pertains to the ethical dilemma of not acting upon ones own vision and strategy for business. The company manufactures energy efficient products with the vision of increasing awareness amongst the consumers for environment sustainability while still earning profits form the sale of the energy regulators. However with the practice of dumping the sewerage and the waste directly into the river the company would be not acting on its own beliefs leading to tarnished image for the company. The company is also philanthropic in the manner it wants to develop the local region of operations in the Dominican Republic by building infrastructure to provide support to the local community while establishing programs for their education and development. However if the company takes to dumping sewerage and waste directly into the river, it would create a contradiction of ideology as the action would lead to the polluting of the regional environment that goes against the philanthropic viewpoint and perspective of the company. Question B: Stakeholder Management — Write a minimum of 2 pages in APA format addressing the questions below regarding the following stakeholders: the environment, the employees, the customers, the community and the shareholders:  What are the above stakeholders interests for each ethical issue or concern you identified? What are the stakeholders’ responsibilities for each ethical issue or concern you identified? What are the possible decisions the corporation could make for each ethical issue or concern, and what are the possible effects on the stakeholders?   Answer: Any business entity has stakeholders that have their respective interests that lie within the operations of the business and the results that the operations yield. Similarly the Clean Power Company also has many forms of stakeholders that have their particular interest in making the company achieve its short and long terms business objectives strategically while earning revenue to support the interests if the stakeholders. The main stakeholders of the Clean Power Company include the employees of the company, the customers of the company, the community of the region where it operates, the environment as well as the shareholders of the company. The different stakeholders have different interests pertaining to the operations of the Clean Power Company. The management and employees of the Clean Power Company have an interest in the company operating profitability while achieve economic as well as physical growth to satisfy their salaries and providing them with an option to grow with the organization as well. The shareholders of the company are interested in the long term operation of the business, its profitability and the reputation of the company as this determines the share and stock value which is the stake of the shareholders in the company. The customers of the company are concerned with receiving the promised products and services as advertised by the company in a high quality format which is contributes to sustainability as aside from providing the primary function. The community is concerned with the wellbeing and the opportunity that the company brings with itself to the region in terms of prospects for new jobs, and the development of the region with progressive infrastructure to aid the development. The main responsibility of the stakeholders that have been identified for the Clean Power Company pertains to ensuring the well beings of the company, the profitability of the company for growth and continues business as well as achievement of the company’s long term and short term goals and objectives so that it is able to stay in the market to satisfy the demands and the needs of the customers while contributing to the sustainability of the environment, making way for development of the region for local communities as well as providing profits and returns for the shareholders and the management. Pertaining to the ethical issue highlighted for the case, the decision that can be made by the Clean Power Company pertains to going ahead with the proposal of Teltec to provide the developmental infrastructure in the local region of Dominican Republic while in order to control costs of setting up and conducting business operations the company could seek the action of dumping the sewer and the waste lines in the Chavon river. The other decision that can be made b the company is to not follow the proposition provided by Teltec and use waste management strategies to treat the were and waste before dumping it in the river to avoid contributing to environmental pollution and health hazards in the future. The effect that these decisions would have on the stakeholders is that by dumping the waste into the river the company would be contributing to environmental pollution, the local community would see a increased pollution level in their region with increasing health concerned, the consumers and customers of the product can refuse to purchase the products sold by the company due to its business practices of non sustainability while the management and the shareholders can see an increased level of legal fines or decreasing sales that can ultimately effect the growth of the business and the company share value. Final Project Part 3: Write a recommendation for both the Energy Cooperative and the Clean Power Company.  Your recommendations should include a statement of the ethical concerns, why you have chosen your particular recommendations, how it will affect the stakeholders in each case, and at least 3 specific references to course material to support your recommendation.  This should be a minimum of 2 pages (minimum 1 page for each case) in APA style format. Answer: The issue that is faced by the Clean Power Company pertains to the ethical issue of practicing on ones philosophical and ethical beliefs when conducting business activities. The Clean Power Company is a company highly orientated towards the sustainability of the earths resources which include its environment. Aside from this the case also depicts that the company is oriented towards corporate social responsibility by investing in the communities of the regions it operates in order to provide development opportunities and progression to the region in a mutually beneficial and philanthropic manner. The issue of dumping the sewer and waste in the Chavon river depicts an ethical issue that contradicts with the beliefs of the company and what it known to stand for. Therefore in order to avoid future litigation or legal actions as well as repercussions from consumer action groups the company could seek to not dump the sewer and waste directly into the river. Instead the company can seek to invest in a sewage treatment plant along with waste management policies that can be put in place to control waste while making it harmless before dumping it in the river. This company can call for contribution from the local government to finance the project while also investing some of its funds aimed at developing the local region to undertake the project of launching the sewage and waste treatment plant. This option would allow the company to retain its focus and strategy of being environmentally sustainable while contributing to the development of the region. Moreover the health and pollution hazards with dumping sewer and waste directly into the river would also be eliminated resolving the ethical issue that is faced by the company. The Energy Cooperative is a non profit organization that seeks to provide education and awareness to the masses pertaining to the use of energy, the needs for its conservation, the projects related to the energy, any technological updates in the field while also providing information and support on how to start business sin the filed of energy based natural resources. The Energy Cooperative is also a forum that enables companies in the energy industry to discuss the relevant technology changes, innovations, standards of practice, as well as industry regulations and breakthroughs in the industry. Essentially the Energy Cooperative is made up of many members that contribute with a fee towards the sustainability and the development of the Energy Cooperative. The issue that is faced by the Energy Cooperative as highlighted in the case pertains to the nature of the company, its ownership and its management. One of the directors of the Energy Cooperative addressing to the clients and the customers of the company as the director of the company with the following words ”I am calling as director of the Energy Cooperative”. This indicates the ownership of the Energy Cooperative to lie solely with the one director while in actuality there are a group of directors present at the company that spear head its operations along with the support provided by the members. The issue of misrepresentation can be solved by not addressing the clients and customers with the proposed introduction. Instead a brief introduction to the Energy Cooperative can be made which highlights its importance and the role it plays and then it can be addressed to the audience that there the Energy Cooperative is a cooperative effort and the director is one of the directors of the company. This would resolve and avoid the issue of misrepresentation that has been highlighted in the case. References (2008), Kants Moral Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, retrieved March 29th 2009 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/ Cohen Almagor, R., (2007), Ends and Means in J.S. Mills Utilitarian theory, Anglo American Law Review, retrieved March 29th 2009 http://www.hull.ac.uk/rca/download/articles/Ends%20and%20Means%20in%20J.S.%20Mill%20Theory.pdf Gentry, G., (2007), Rawls and Religious Community: Ethical Decision Making in the Public Square, Christian Bioethics, Vol. 13 Iss. 2 pp 171 - 181, retrieved March 29th 2009 http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a781179036&fulltext=713240928 Kristina, Q., (2006), Kant and the Categorical Imperative: Perfect Vs Imperfect Duties, retrieved March 29th 2009 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/89934/kant_and_the_categorical_imperative.html W.C. Crain. (1985), Theories of Development- Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Development, Prentice-Hall. Ch 7, pp. 118-136, retrieved March 29th 2009 http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm Read More